“Record companies share their priorities with us every week,” Bruce told news.com.au.

“We then get together at least a couple of times a week to discuss these new songs. Through consensus, (if the content director and music director love the song and it fits the sound of the station) we then decide how often we should play it.”

Ed Sheeran’s song, Sing, is currently number three on the ARIA charts.Source:News Corp Australia

“Our best songs, the ones that chart and are researching favourably with our audience, rotate every couple of hours,” Bruce said, “We might have six of these.”

“Our new songs also rotate on a two to three hour basis. The idea behind this is to quickly take a song from being unfamiliar to being liked and then loved.”

“It’s all based on how often you’re hearing it,” Bruce said.

“Very rarely does a song become someone’s favourite after one or two listens. Familiarity is the first step to a song becoming liked.”

Wiggle by Jason Derulo is number five on the ARIA chart.Source:Getty Images

The rotation policy clearly works for Top 40 radio stations around Australia, but Bruce admits that listeners complain “all the time”.

“Repetition is the Achilles heel of the format,” he said.

“It’s also the reason why stations like 2Day FM have the highest cumulative audiences. Lots of people come to us expecting to hear their favourite songs and our rotations mean we can deliver on their expectations.”